Sariam
by lulabalula
Summary: This fic follows strange and somehow dangerous but well established relationship based on power play between Hannibal and OC. Set before Will Graham. Has no real plot - It's more about the relationship really. Chapters are just little peeks under the pot lid.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is just little part of a fan fiction I write for myself. Claire Wumoar is my original character - she knows about Hannibal and Hannibal knows she knows. They share a very strange relationship, based on power play, in which Hannibal studies her in exchange for his inputs on cases. Happens before the TV show time line. Clair lives in Baltimore suburb and works as FBI consultant while writing books on killers, studying their psychology and way of thinking.

She sat in her car, looking at the building in front of her. Jack was angry. Hannibal didn't do anything. Jack yelled at her so loud everyone around heard it. Hannibal didn't do anything. He didn't moved when she walked outside the office, he didn't followed her, didn't said anything - _Hannibal didn't do anything_.

Sighing, she started the car, leaving the place and headed outside the city to her house, leaving the radio turned off. The news from around would be full of it; 'murder near Baltimore!' - and she didn't need it. She needed to sit down and write out every thought hunting her down and that's exactly what she did when finally getting home.

Hours later, Jack's car stopped outside her house. She looked up from the papers she covered in text, trying to sort out her thoughts, to her phone, lightning the screen. Over twenty missed calls. Jack's car stood outside and bell rang.

" I called you." he said instead of saying hello, when she finally walked outside.

" I felt asleep." she lied. He studied her for moment

" Right. Well, we had another murder." Jack went on "Exactly the same like the previous ones."

" But we caught him." _I caught him_. Claire rubbed her eyes, smuggling her make-up a little bit "Must be a copy cat."

" Must be, yes." Jack looked at her again "The body was found warm. The victim died about 4 hours ago, fingers cut off along with one leg in knee."

" Let me grab my things." She sighed, turning back to her doors.

" Tomorrow's all right, the body is in the lab anyway" Jack interrupted her "I just stopped by to see if anything's wrong since you didn't took anyone's calls." He added. She gave him a node but didn't said anything "Is anything wrong?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

" No." Claire finally, quickly, answered "I'm just tired... the blood loss, you see." she waved her hand to her neck.

" Al right... all right..." he slowly stepped back "Rest, we'll see you tomorrow."

Jack got back to his car and drove away. Claire watched him from the kitchen window while washing dishes, making sure he did really left, than quickly took her coat and handbag, walking to her car in first shoes she found.

She banged on Hannibal's door, not stopping until they opened.

" Do come in." Hannibal politely said as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her "How can I help you?"

" Did you do it." Claire asked simply. He stared at her silently, expressionless "Hannibal, I'm asking you. Did you do it?" he sighed, thinning his lips and walked away from her without a single word, heading into the kitchen. She followed him, of course, not even trying to cover her anger "You did it, didn't you?" she went on "And who's the suspect here? I am." Claire spread her arms, following him into the pantry and in blindness caused by the frustration down the steps into the basement. She stopped almost immediately, noticing blood on floor and plastic apron on hook by the stairs. Hannibal stopped by the large metal table in the middle of room with fresh body partially already put into huge plastic bags. After few second, she allowed herself to swallow.

" So it wasn't you." she breathed out. He looked down, silently agreeing and pointed at the metal desk, looking up again, staring Claire straight into her eyes.

" Get on the table." he said, his voice low and quiet. Dangerous. She froze, starting calculating quickly in her head. Jack might have followed her. If not, her car is standing outside Hannibal's house. He might have the time to move it. Jack didn't follow her. She has her phone with her but that meant nothing. No. This all means nothing. She's trapped and trying to run would only make things worst "Get on the table." Hannibal repeated calmly. Claire dropped her keys into pocket, taking her coat off. He reached for it, leaving it over the head of metal chair near, while she slipped off her shoes carefully, walking slowly to the table. The concrete was cold and soft. He followed her, offering her help, but she managed to sit on the edge by herself. _This is the risks we are taking_, she kept repeating in her mind.

" Lay down." Hannibal directed her. Clair obeyed, letting her head hit the cold metal last, feeling her muscles stiffing. She didn't wanted to look scared.

In the next moment, Hannibal kicked close leg of the table. She closed her eyes in shock, shaking, but did not scream. He hit the table near her head, causing her ear go deaf for a moment and she opened her eyes at the sound of metals brushed against each other. He held a knife in his hand when she looked at him. Claire breathed in sharply.

" Feijoada – stew made with tongue" He said, brushing the tip of knife against her shaking lips. Drawing them apart he stick the knife in her mouth, touching her tongue with the cold metal. "Woman's cheeks are disgusting." he went on, brushing very lightly knife against her face, slowly lowering it down to the neck "the smaller the muscle the better the meet." he cut through the hem of her shirt "Polmoni di vitello con fagioli – Lungs with beans" he almost smirked to himself when Claire breathed in deeply, shaking. Hannibal waited for her to breath out and as soon as she wanted to breath in again, he rested tip of the knife on her chest, not leaving the position, so she had to keep her breaths low. Closing her eyes she felt the knife breaking her skin and blood staining the light material of her shirt as it stick to her skin "Leaving the meet on ribs, roasted slowly until it falls down itself when touched... Won't even look human. There is so much in human's body to be used. Every little bit..." he went down her body with the knife" Everything can be used." Claire felt the sharp metal slipping down her belly "So easy to kill." Hannibal whispered in deep voice, smiling and bowing down a little, visibly enjoying himself "So simple to take a life." she felt the point of the knife on her skin stink with pain. He only had to pull a little more and it would break. "And you, my dear Claire, you are very fragile, tasty looking little human."

_The risks we take, the risks we take..._

"Feel the panic creeping in your mind?" he whispered "that's what makes meet stiff." Hannibal added "scared meet." he smiled "You are a scared meet." he threw the knife away, letting it slid on the metal table to the food bags, out of Clair's reach, stepping back a little "continue being rude and you will wake up on this table to watch me take you apart." The amusement completely gone from his voice now. She sat up and let her legs slip over the edge of table "Now, I believe you came here with a question, to which answer was given to you. Tell me more."

" I don't know anything more." Claire said, feeling her mouth dry, holding the edges of table she was sitting on "Jack stopped by, he suspects I did it."

" Did you?" Hannibal asked casually.

" No." She quickly shook her head "I was writing."

" That would explain the ink on your fingers." he nodded, pointed out the black scratches on her fingers. She always got some "But that won't stand as proof for Jack."

" Exactly." She agreed.

" Did you tell Jack?"

" I told him I felt asleep." she looked at her toes "The last thing I need is Jack thinking I'm unstable."

" Do you feel unstable?" Hannibal lowered his voice a little and she quickly looked up to him again.

" I feel disturbed." she answered after while "and I had to write down my thought because I can't talk about them." she added quickly. Hannibal knew that.

" Does Jack has any reasons to think you did it?" He asked than

" Well of course." She sighed, annoyed by the idea, sliding down over the edge of the table and walking to the stairs, slipping her shoes on "Remember why I'm not an FBI agent? They are unsure about me – they think I'm more than just 'capable of killing'"

" You are." Hannibal pointed out, watching her sit down on the stairs and position her feet comfortably in the shoe.

" Well yes, I'm just not willing to kill." she stopped herself from turning her eyes up "But you know that." she added "And I have to appreciate that you're not sending killers in my way to make me cross the line an actually kill somebody in self defense." Claire added quickly, standing up

" Am I not?" their eyes met for moment and she only took few seconds to answer.

" No." Claire spoke "You wouldn't let anyone touch me." She stepped closer "You wouldn't let anyone hurt me." she added, her voice turning colder and colder "because killing me and hurting me is your privilege you're not yet taking, right?" corner of his lips lifted up a little while he very slowly stalked toward her.

" One more word and I will have you take off your shoes once again and this time, there will be much bigger knife at your chest."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N - Hey everyone! Another part! I'm trying to chose just the best parts of the story as I'm sure nobody would find everything there interesting. Anyway. Clair was forced to quit as FBI agent for her own health and started teaching at the academy (I'm a lil shit I know, hate me all you want). One of her Student tries to kill her but fails. The second scene is slightly inspired by the dinner at the end of Hannibal movie, except Clair isn't high on morphine but Hannibal's favorite drug, whatever it is. Have fun and please if you read this thing, could you just possibly write some review or something? I'd love that very much, thank you._

* * *

" Hannibal." she sighed almost silently, sitting up straight and looking at her. There was no facade now, nothing. She reached for the cup he brought her and tasted the liquid. "I'm so tired." she whispered.

" You look worse than that." Hannibal noted, looking at her table covered in papers "You might have had take too many classes to teach" She gave him a nod thinking about his words before closing her eyes slowly

" There's a killer in my class." Her voice cracked.

" I can't say I'm surprised." Hannibal answered, sitting down in chair next to the window. After few second of silence, she slowly opened her eyes to him, sighing deeply "Tell me more about the killer." He spurred her

" Sociopath, very self-aware. He can hide himself. He's kind of … liked by almost everyone who knows him." She swallowed "I don't know who he killed but I know he did killed."

" Why?" Hannibal simply questioned her

" The questions he asks are ... always about the victims." Clair sighed "he doesn't care about the killers at all, he wants to know how the victims were chosen and killed and how the killer was caught. Which is strange in profiling class, isn't it?"

" Exactly." Hannibal pointed out.

" Yes, exactly." Claire breathed out, annoyed "Exactly, Hannibal." He watched her carefully, as she closed her eyes again. "He lures people with his false, sweet, behavior. He's protective over his classmates, that's when I first noticed." she shifted in her seat, uncomfortable "He wanted to be noticed. I gave him chance to either expose himself to the class, even through they wouldn't probably even notice, or to expose himself to me." she supported her head but her speech became more animated. She never was proud of herself for, occasionally, manipulating people around her.

" Is he going to kill?" Hannibal asked, connection his fingers in front of him

" He won't try until I give him a chance." she said "He did not manipulated me as he did others, so the decision is upon me, not him"

" Are you going to give him a chance?" there was something dangerous about his voice. Some kind of warning maybe.

" I'm thinking about it." Claire admitted "Waiting..." she whispered.

* * *

She felt strange and hungry. The world around her was floating and something delicious smelled from the kitchen downstairs. She slowly sat on edge of her bed, ignoring the fact she's only wearing her PJ she left there ages ago for the occasions and stood up, supporting herself against the wall and walked slowly to the doors - or in the direction she thought the doors are. Her vision was blurred and somehow dimmed.

Stairs were difficult for her, but once she managed to walk down, the smell of food was so strong she ignored the lightness of her head and simply hoped she won't walk into any wall. Slowly, Claire went on, the world around her now floating even more. She could see some figure in the dinning room, as she got closer, sitting behind the table and some other figure, distantly looking like Hannibal, standing near. There were voices, which sound like melted honey to her ears, but until she reached the door frame of the room, she couldn't tell what the words said meant.

" Clair, you should be resting." It was Hannibal, leaning against the table. She didn't answered, supporting herself against the door frame and looking at the unknown figure sitting behind the table. Was the figure even there?

" Clair?" different voice asked, She breathed out sharply, recognizing the voice. Jack. Jack Crawford. Hannibal walked over to her, supporting her.

" Why don't you join us for dinner than? " He invited her, leading her to a head of table where his chair was pushed away for him to sit down, letting her slid on the spot.

" I'm not dressed to eat." she whispered, trying to look up to him. Somehow in the fogginess of her mind she remembered Hannibal hated when she wasn't dressed properly for the occasion.

" Nonsense." Hannibal smiled "Let me serve the food, you will enjoy it - it's your favorite." Jack was silent and she looked him in the face. She ignored Hannibal and didn't noticed when he left the room.

" Hi." She finally managed to say, still looking at Jack.

" Hello, Clair." He answered, insecurity in his voice.

" I know you." She blinked "I know you." she repeated in whisper. Jack thought of an answer, but before anything proper crossed his mind, Hannibal entered the room with three plates, bringing the wonderful smell with him.

" Deer with creme, stuffed with blue cheese, slow cooked with dragon fruit." he served Jack his plate, than Claire and finally the last to himself, sitting down.

" Maybe Clair really isn't in state to dine with us, Hannibal." Jack tried to lower his voice. Clair was staring at her plate, smiling.

" Clair?" Hannibal turned to her, reaching to her arm and softly touching her. She looked up "How are you feeling?"

" Dim." she answered after a little while. Hannibal's mouth twitched with smile.

" Do you think you are in state to dine with us?" She turned her eyes to Jack slowly and than back to Hannibal

" I don't know who's that." she admitted.

" We're having Jack Crawford for dinner." Hannibal smiled. She gave him a nod, taking her fork

" Bon apetit." she smiled wide, cutting the meat with her knife.

" I'm afraid you will have to excuse Clair." Hannibal started eating as well, smiling "I'm very pleased she found the strength to walk downstairs herself, even if her view on world is so dimmed. it's sign she's recovering."

Jack took a bite "It's truly delicious." He noted quickly, before planing to answer Hannibal

" It is, isn't it?" Clair looked up to him. She didn't take a bite herself yet.

" Clair, please, eat before you compliment the taste." Hannibal told her "And I'm glad it is to your taste, jack." her eyes went wide, as she just remembered something, breathing in, looking up to Hannibal. Than, she looked back down on her food, taking a bite, silently chewing on it, the thought forgotten again.

" I mean no disrespect, doctor," Jack started "But shouldn't Clair be in hospital if she is in such state?"

" Hospital wouldn't help her right now at all." Hannibal objected "Her state is only temporary. The drugs are working well and are fading away as her consciousness is returning. You have to Understand, Jack, she was put in truly horrible state, in which there was no real thing for to hang on to." She ate silently, listening to Hannibal the same as Jack who eyed her time from time, with some kind of regret in his look "Claire Killed - something she refused to do but was forced to, and the interview following only pushed her further from the reality." Jack swallowed hard at Hannibal's last words.

" You mean she's gone crazy?" Clair eyed shortly Hannibal, awaiting his answer.

" In some way, yes, the same way both of us are crazy too." Hannibal agreed "The recent events were very traumatizing."

" Who are you speaking about?" Clair asked suddenly, looking at Jack for answer.

" We are speaking about our friend." Hannibal answered instead.

" Do I know her?" She turned her head to him, blinking slowly. He pushed his glass with water closer to her before answering.

" You do, although you mind not remember her at the moment." Clair gave him a nod, looking at the glass – new object to her. "What are you think about, Clair?" Hannibal noticed her look.

" I hope she is going to be all right." She looked up to Hannibal, her voice and eyes sad suddenly "Do you think she is going to be all right?"

" I believe she will." Hannibal smiled "Why don't you drink?" he suggested and she obediently reached for the glass, sipping a bit, standing it back. Her hand was shaking, but luckily nothing spilled on the table. Jack finished the food on his plate.

" It was truly delicious." Clair smiled as she heard his words, but didn't looked at him and her smile quickly passed.

" I'm glad." Hannibal answered politely, letting him chose the next theme, but Jack was quiet and Clair took chance herself.

" It's Hannibal's specialty." She said, turning her eyes to Jack and cutting the last piece into smaller bites "it's hard to cook deer." Hannibal's lips twitched in smile again. "I tried once and burned down the whole meet. Such a waste." She closed her eyes a little, as if she was remembering something. "The meet is soft."

" Well I tired to bake a simple cake once, for my wife," Jack accepted the theme of cooking as a good to start a conversation with, in his eyes now mental, former agent "And burned down almost whole kitchen." Claire smiled wide, little chuckle escaping her lips as she finished her food as well and folded her fork and knife together.

" Thank you for the delicious deer, Hannibal." She thanked.

" Anytime." Hannibal simply answered, drinking a bit of wine. He already finished himself and was watching both his guests now.

" How was the cake?" She turned to Jack. Her smile started slowly fading and her eyes seemed to be getting foggier and foggier.

" It was black as rock and the strawberries melted. I made the mistake of adding the marzipan before the baking, not after." he laughed at his own incapability, taking wineglass as well, drinking a bit.

" We all learn new things everyday thanks to our mistakes, it is natural." Hannibal noted, standing up "Let me serve desert. Now Clair, I'm afraid you won't be getting any. Sugar wouldn't help you at all." he started taking the plates, awaiting her answer. She looked at him, blank. Something in her eyes changed. "Clair?" he called her name. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to speak, but there was no voice coming out. Hannibal stood the plates on table, bowing to her and pulling down one of her eyelids. She didn't protest.

" Hannibal?" she asked finally.

" Yes?" he spoke calmly

" I'm feeling thin." he smiled a little, resting his hand on her shoulder and narrowing again, taking the plates

" That's all right." He told her "Drink some water." She gave him a nod, reaching for the glass of water again. Hannibal returned in less than a minute with dark red puddings on plates with crème and fruit all around, standing one in front of Jack, the second on spot after his plate. "Raspberry pudding." he presented, sitting down. Clair was looking at Jack's pudding with some strange mix of fear and shock in her eyes. "Clair?" Hannibal asked her after noticing her look, but she didn't reacted until he touched her arm lightly again. She turned her head to him, looking into his eyes. For moment, it was quiet.

" I killed him." She breathed out "Hannibal I Killed him." Clair repeated.

" Yes, you did." Hannibal agreed simply "Do you remember the incident?" he eyed Jack for a very short moment.

" The keys." she said "I blinded him with the keys and he didn't screamed. He didn't screamed at all." she blinked, watching Hannibal calmly eat his pudding "He laid there like the girls of Defender, the killer... and I... it was my fault."

" Do you remember anything before Jack arrived?" Hannibal calmly asked, ignoring the fact she said it was her fault, even through it wasn't. She thought it was and there was no reason to argue with her about that now. Clair looked at Jack, who watched her, not touching his pudding just yet.

" Scream." She said after while "I screamed. For him. He didn't. I Screamed for him." Jack looked at Hannibal. She wasn't screaming. Hannibal knew that as well.

" You're doing well, Clair." Hannibal appreciated, noticing how tired she suddenly looked and putting down his spoon "I think is it enough excitement for one evening." He stood up "Let me help you upstairs, you should lay down and rest now." She gave him a nod, standing up "I will be back shortly, Jack." he looked in his direction, before helping her outside the room and up into the stairs.


End file.
